The Key
by ShiftingStorms
Summary: With Fullmetal still gone, it might be up to one unexpected character. With roy mustangs help, things could get better or worst. will fullmetal ever make it back?


"Edward? There's no way. I killed you!" Envy walked up to me and pulled my hair. My hood fell and Envy grunted. "Who are you!" I frowned. "I'm not Edward I can tell you that much!" Envy let go. For all you new comers on this journey, I'm Alex Mustang. I live with Roy Mustang. Shortly after my mom gave birth to me, I was taken by the military. They put me in a camp and trained us for war. I ended up being best in my group with alchemy. Well, after I was done with my training, one officer took me and taught me flame alchemy. Roy Mustang. Eventually he just let me stay with him. So I guess I'm his adopted daughter, but not by law. Sorry, enough about me. Back to the action. "I take it your from the military. But why would they send a teenager to fight a homunculus?" "I'm looking for Edward Elric. And I need you to open the gate so I can get Ed back." Envy lunged toward me but I quickly burst her into flames. She screamed in pain but then recovered. Typical homunculus She grabbed me and pinned me down on the floor. We rolled all across the room before I could pin her down with a good grip. I punched her face, but when she looked up, she was Roy. "Face it! Your nothing! You can't kill me, you don't have the guts!" _Your nothing! _I've heard those words before from the same mouth. I shook the thought out of my head and punched Envy. I grabbed her neck and dragged her up. "I don't need to kill you, I just need you to open that gate. Let me cross it and get Ed back." Envy laughed, back to her normal form. "And why would I do that!" I dropped Envy and looked down on her. I put my shoe to her neck. "Now, _open that door._" "No!" I snapped my fingers again. "Ahhh! watch It kid! If you kill me, you have no one to open that damn gate." _Nice way thinking this through Alex. _I flamed her one last time and ran out the building back to central.

"You almost killed it!" "Yeah, but Its still alive." Roy rubbed his head. "Alex, that is the only chance to get fullmetal back. Don't screw this up!" I walked out of the room. "Hey Alex!" I turned around. "Oh hi general Hues." "How's it going? Have you found out any more information about Ed?" "Well, I found a local homunculus, but it didn't go too well." "Just be careful out there. I gotta run, see ya later." "Yeah, see ya."

"Roy, she is just like Ed. Looks alike too. Its almost scary. But then again, they are brother and sister." "Yeah." "When are you gonna tell her that she's really looking for her brother?" "I don't know. When she finds him." "This is gonna come back and bite you." "eh, add it to the list. What she doesn't know won't hurt her." "You know Roy, your something else."

"Alex Mustang." I looked up from the file of Edward Elric. "Yeah?" "You are under arrest. Please come with us." I stood up. "What!" They hand cuffed me and lead me out the room. On the way out we passed Roy's office. He saw me being escorted out of the building with handcuffs. He walked over to his door and looked out. "Whats going on." "Alex Mustang is arrested for reading and getting involved with military files when she isn't in the military. We've been ordered to arrest her." "Who gave you these orders." "The furor, sir." Roy grinned his teeth. Then he picked me up by my collar and whispered something to me. "I'll send someone for you. Just stay put." I snickered,"This is me your talking to." "Stay put. That's an order." "I'm not under your command Roy. I'm not one of your men. I'm not dog of the military." I pushed away from him and walked out the building.

We were soon in a car driving toward the jail. _Come on think!_ Then it hit me. I opened the door and rolled out. "Stop the car!" They jumped out and had were pointing guns at me. _Sorry Roy._ I lifted my hand. _I have to look out for myself._ I snapped my fingers and soon the road was a huge ball of smoke and fire. I ran to the nearest train station and hopped on one that was just leaving. As we were pulling out I saw Roy standing on the platform with a frown on his face. I snickered. "catch ya later hot head."

I looked for a place to sit and finally found a girl sitting by herself. She looked about my age. "Um, hi. Do you mind if I sit here?" She just stared at me. "Um...hello?" "Oh sorry, yeah. Go ahead." "Thanks." She held out her hand. "I'm Winry Rockbell." I shaked it. "I'm Alex Mustang." "Your not related to colonel Mustang are you?" I hesitated. _Don't give out too much information. Although, its been a while since I've told anyone...awe what the heck. _"Well, yes and no. I'm not blood related to him but when I was young I got taken by the military and he took me in after they let me go. I just took his last name cause I don't know my true one." "Oh, hey let me help you get those cuffs off then you can tell me why you've been arrested." she pulled out a screwdriver and got them unlocked. "Wow, thanks." "so why were you arrested?" "I got arrested for looking at military files without being a military dog. I have a question for you though, why didn't you hesitate to unlock those cuffs?" "I once knew some friends who always got themselves into trouble." "Really? Who?" "The Elric brothers." I leaned in. "No way. You knew them? I've been looking for fullmetal for three months. I know he's alive. I just gotta find him." She grabbed my hands. I looked down in confusion and looked up to her face. She was tearing up. "you need to be careful. One of the Elric brothers, Alphonse, got killed trying to get Ed back." I stayed silent. _This girl sure knows a lot about Ed. Maybe I should stay with her for awhile. _"Hey, I don't have any where to stay. Do you mind if I spend the night at your place?" "Of course. Where actually coming up to it now." She smiled at me and I smiled back. _This could be good for me. If those military freaks don't find me. _I looked out the window. _Damn! There's guards everywhere. _"Uh, Winry? Do you know a back way to your house?" She laughed. "yeah. I've had to make one when I was with Ed and Al. They were in a constant heep of trouble. This way." We went to the back of the train and hopped off. We ran through a field of grass and came across a road. "Nice short cut." "Yeah..." I looked at her with a puzzled look. "Whats wrong?" "Its just...You look a lot like Ed. I mean a lot. You could be his sister." I snickered. "I don't have any family. Or relatives as far as I know." "I'm sorry. Oh, here we are!" I looked up to a cozy little house. _Nice. Away from the train station and no where near another house. Perfect. _"Come inside." I followed her inside. "Grandma! I have someone I want you to meet!"

"So she's on the run." "Yeah." Lieutenant Hawkeye stopped and thought for a moment. "Colonel, where would she go?" "Where would the Elric brothers go?" "Rizembul?" "That's where I'm thinking." "One more thing. Do you think she's running from something else? From you?" Roy put on his gloves. "Maybe. But I can't know that for sure unless I ask her." He started to walk through the door. He turned around. "Are you coming?" "Yes sir."

"Ah I see." Winry's Grandma sat and was working on a auto mail arm. "Your looking for Ed. Well, I see no problem with you staying with us. We have plenty of room." "Thanks." "So Alex, how long do you plan on staying?" I sat on the couch and made myself comfortable. "Eh, not too long. I hope I can get back to central soon, if they would just lay off." "This doesn't add up. The military wouldn't be after someone this badly just for looking at military files. There has to be something else." Winry thought for a moment. "Alex, do you know alchemy?" "Yeah, I know flame alchemy." She was about to say something, but something caught my eye outside. _A military uniform? _I looked closer. I took a deep breath. _Figures. _"I gotta step outside for a sec." I walked out and closed the door behind me. "So he didn't come but he sent you guys. Lieutenant Hawkeye and General Hues." "Don't worry Alex, were not here to turn you in." "I hope not." "Were here to take you back to central. You need to here what Roy has to say." "Alright. And how am I supposed to trust you?" "Were Roy's men. You can trust us." I sighed. "Okay, lets go." I went with Hawkeye and Hues to the train station. I didn't bother walking back in the house. I didn't have anything to take or anything to say. We got on the train and went to a special car reserved for military officers. We walked in and guess who was sitting there. Yup. You guessed it. Colonel Mustang.

"Why didn't you stay put." Roy was looking down. "I told you, I'm not under your command." "Well, that's something I want to talk to you about. What would you say to becoming a state alchemist?" I snickered. "A dog of the military?" " Its the only way to continue looking for Fullmetal. Your the only chance getting him back. It'll get you off the hook as well." I thought about this for a second. _Well, I am pretty good at alchemy. And I have to look for Ed. And I really don't want to spend my days in jail. _"Fine. When is the exam?" "Tomorrow." "Ah! Tomorrow! Are you nuts! I wont be ready!" "Yes you will. And you won't be doing a traditional test. You'll be taking one with a state alchemist, one on one." "Okay, who am I gonna be with?" "Me." I couldn't help but smile. _This is finally a way I can get my hands around that guy. _

We arrived at central and we drove to central command. Me and Roy walked toward a fighting circle when I noticed the crowd. "Roy..." He didn't say anything and kept walking forward. "Damn it what is this!" before I could say anymore, he opened the door to get out and pushed me outside. I looked around with my eyes cold. _That bastard. _I walked to the other end and turned around. I yelled across to him. "So, is this just a way to show off your moves! Then bring it!" I snapped my fingers and flames arose in the sky. I didn't hit him I just wanted smoke to hide me. I ran up behind him and punched his face. Not too hard, but hard enough. But he grabbed my hand and twisted it behind my back. "You think you can beat me. Don't forget who taught you flame alchemy kid." He let go of me. "Why Roy? Why in front of all these people?" "That's how the assessments are done. You don't have to beat me, just show off your alchemy skills. But don't assume I'm gonna hold back." "I wouldn't want you too." I ran out of the smoke and waited for it to clear. Roy walked out a few seconds later. He threw flames at me but I dodged them. He did it again and I threw flames at him. Our fire met in the middle and caused a huge explosion. One of the exam people walked up to me. "Very well done. Please wait in Colonel Mustangs office." I walked back to his office with Roy. We sat and waited. "You did pretty well." "Thanks. But you held back." Roy grinned. "I didn't want to kill you." the door opened. "Hey Alex, welcome to the military." General Hues threw a pocket watch to me. "I made it?" "Yeah and your name is the Dragon Alchemist." General Hues walked out. "Congrats. Your a dog of the military now." "Some how I don't feel all that special." "Since your here in central, your under my command now." "Great." "Get going." I started to walk toward the door. "Alex?" "Bye Sir." I walked out of the room. _Talk about Mr. authority. Geeze. _Roy smiled to himself. "That's more like it."

I ran toward the library to see if I could get any information on Homunculus I got to the front door and was about to go in, but I got pulled back. "And where do you think your going!" "I would let go of me." The officer didn't budge. "You thought you could run! Ha!" "I would really let go." "Put her down officer. All her charges have been dropped. She's a state alchemist now." The officer stood in awe. He snapped back into his senses and walked away. "Thanks. I'm Alex." "Nice to meet you. I'm Sheska. I work here in the library. I heard your the new state alchemist. That's pretty cool." "Yeah. Being a dog of the military is great." "Why would you do it if you didn't want to?" "Cause I needed it to do something for someone else. He's a close friend." "You sound just like Edward Elric. He became a state alchemist to try to get his brothers body back. You two are alike." "I get that a lot." "Well, I gotta run. I guess I'll see ya around! Bye!" "see ya." _Put her down. She's a state alchemist. Its like I'm precious cargo. _I laughed._ Let the fun begin. _

I slammed the book shut. "Nothing!How is there nothing!" I threw it back on its shelf and walked out. _Not one thing on homunculus It's like their non-existent! Their trying to keep themselves a secret. No, the state is trying to keep them a secret!_ I got a ride back to central command.

"And your surprised why?" "Not one thing! Not even a little fable." "The world shuts itself away from the truth." Roy took of his hat. "for all I know you could be a homunculus, Roy. No one can know for sure unless you see it yourself." he snickered. "I'm not a homunculus But I know someone who is." "Who?" "Furor Bradly." I sat back in my chair. "No way." "Believe it. I honestly thought I killed him. But it takes more than flames Alex. Much more than flames." "so why were you so concerned that I might of killed that homunculus if you knew they couldn't die?" "I never said that." he stood up and looked out the window. "Alex you need to understand that the worst people hide right under your nose. Only me and three other of my men know about the furor. You-" some one walked in and interrupted him. "Sorry to interrupt Colonel. But I have a letter for you." the messenger handed Roy an envelope and walked out of the room. Roy slid it open and began to read. "Well, what does it say?" Roy slammed it on his desk. "Scar's back. And he has a philosophers stone. All state alchemists are on lock down at central command." "okay, bye." "What?" "Roy, he has a philosophers stone. I can use that to get to the gate. So I'm gonna go get it." "No." I jumped on his desk and jumped over him. I opened the window and stood on the edge. "Yup. Next time you see me I'll have Fullmetal." I saluted and jumped out the window.

Walking empty streets at night is kinda creepy. There was a full moon and dead quiet. "_Geeze, talk __about your lock down_." I turned into a dark ally when I saw a man standing there. _Is that him? _I walked up to him quietly and waited behind his back. "Scar, you have something that I really need." The man in front of me fell and his head was bloody. _Holy crap! _"Oh really." I looked up to see another man with a scar on his face. Guess that's him. Scar raised his hand to show a ring on his finger. It had a red stone in it. _The philosophers stone. _"Edward Elric, I thought you were dead." " for the thousandth time, I am not Edward!" "Never the less, its time to die." He darted toward me and I did the only thing I could. I ran the other way like a girl. Luckily, girls are fast. I stopped at the end of the ally and turned toward him. I made a smoke bomb and ran into it. I found Scar and kicked him in the back. He fell to his knees and I grabbed his hand. I pulled the philosophers stone off his finger and made a dash for it.

I was walking back to central command because I didn't know how to use the darn thing. _So I got it, how do I get to the gate?_ Then, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around but before I could move, Scar grabbed my face and threw me against the street. Hard. Then everything went black.

I woke up in a white place. _What the?_ I stood up and looked around. Pure whiteness. I did a 360 turn when I saw a big gate. "Is this it? The gate? I actually made it? Wait, does this mean I'm dead!" the gate opened and black hands came out and pulled me in. it pulled me through a spinning vortex and then I fell from the sky.

I tried to stand up but fell. I sat up and looked around. I was surrounded by tree's and woods. I finally stood up and looked around. I was in a forest. "Where am I!" then I saw someone come out of the woods. "Excuse me! I need help, I don't know where I am. It's like I'm in a different world, can you help me?" "Here. I know someone you can talk to." the old lady reached out her hand. "Come along with me." She lead me out of the woods into a little town. We walked about a half a mile and came to a house. She lead me inside and called for someone. "Ed! Come down here!" A teenager came down that looked about 18, and looked like me. "Uh, what do want." He looked up and me and stared. And I stared back. "Who is she?" "I don't know. She says.." I cut her off. "I came from a different world. I don't know where I am." He lead me to the couch. "This world, do you know of a place called Amestris?" "Yeah, I'm from there. You know what it is?" "I lived there too." "Wait, are you Edward Elric? Fullmetal?" He stood up. "The one and only." I smiled, but then my face fell. "So I passed through it. I made it through the gate." Edward sat back down. "Sorry to tell you, but this is the other side of it. Here, come on. We can talk more outside." We walked to a different side of town when I saw a familiar face. "Major Hues!" I was about to walk up to him when Ed stopped me. "People from Central look like people from here. Its weird." "He lead me to the place where I first dropped in. "This is where it happened for me to. I can't believe you got through without any damage." "Well, this might have had a impact." I pulled the stone out of my pocket. "The philosophers stone." Ed paced back and forth. "Whats wrong?" "That stone could be our chance to getting back. But I would hate to use it." "Why? This is our chance." "The main ingredient of the philosophers stone is..." "Humans I know. But sacrifices are a part of life. I thought you would know that. You became a state alchemist to try to get Al's body back and yours as well. You left everything behind. That's a huge sacrifice." "You sound like Colonel Mustang." "I am basically his daughter." "Really? Ha ha, I feel bad for you." "He took me in from military training. I'm the Dragon Alchemist." "So you know flame alchemy." "Yup, but Ed. We have to use the stone. Actually you have to use it. My alchemy won't work for this project." He kept a straight face. He took the stone and put in in his hand and did his thing. The gate was in front of us in minuets. We took each others hand and got pulled into the gate. We had to push through to get out, and we dropped in central. Ed looked the same, but my arm was gone. _Damn it. _"Ed, we have to get to central command." "No, were going to Risimbul first come on." He helped me get to the train and we arrived at Wrinry's house and knocked. She opened the door and smiled. "Edward! Oh my gosh, Alex! What the hell did you do! Never mind, come inside. We'll get you a new arm." she pulled out a box and pulled out an auto mail arm. "I made two for Ed, just in case he needed a new one when he came back. And so I would also have an extra. You have it though. Come on."

I screamed. "Stay with us! Were almost done!" they connected another nerve to the new arm. "Ah!" Two hours went by and me and Ed were done. I moved around my new arm, and it was perfect. We walked to the train station and said good by. "Thanks a lot. You really saved me there." Wrinry smiled. "Your welcome. And Ed, try to be careful okay?" "Okay, see ya later." The train pulled out and we headed toward Central.

We hopped of the train and ran to Central Command. We walked down the hallway and stopped outside Roy's office. I told Ed to wait until I talked to Roy first. I walked in and stood in the doorway. "Alex, where the hell have you been. And what happened to your arm?" Before I could say anything, Ed walked in. "Well colonel, she lost it getting me back." Roy smiled. "Fullmetal. Nice to have you back." "Nice to be back." "Roy, I have to ask you something." I walked up to his desk. "Everyone I met recently thought I looked like him or was him. We look like twins. Spill Roy." he walked around his desk and sat on the edge of it. "You two are brother and sister. The army took your sister when she was young. You're twins." I paced back and forth. "So all this time, I was looking for my brother?" Roy nodded. "I didn't know I had a sister." I snickered. "A older sister. So Al was my little brother? I never even knew him." I sat down. _A brother I never even knew. _"He was a great guy. You would have loved him." My eye's grew cold. I looked up at Roy. "This is all your fault! If your army hadn't taken me!" "In case you haven't noticed, your part of the army too. And its not my fault, I'm not the one who took you or killed Al." I pounded the desk with my fist. Ed walked up to me and sat on the desk. "Look, Al is dead and that's something we all had to get past. The past is the past, so put it behind you. I don't need anymore sadness for Al. Now come on, we have unfinished business with some homunculus" I walked out the door without saying anything, and we went to the underground city.

Ed looked around and looked like he had mixed emotions. Sad, angry, looking for revenge. Good, so am I. We walked into the old ball room and looked around. "Envy should be here." I nodded. "I know, I found her here." I heard Envy walk through the door. "Well, looks like the pip squeak is back." Ed's jaw tightened. "Look Envy, lets make this quick. And I am not short!" Ed ran forward at her with his arm made into a sword. He tackled Envy with a roar but she kicked him off. "I'm curios Ed. What do you plan to do with me? Kill me? I cant die." "You can die. I'll make you die! Your the reason Al's dead. You killed my brother!" he charged at her and knocked her to the floor. He was about to jab his arm into her when she changed. Into Wrinry. "Edward. Please, don't hurt me." Ed was frozen. "Ed move! Its not her!" he didn't move a inch. "Damn it!" I ran forward and knocked Edward off of Envy. But I held Envy down. "Alex you won't hurt me will you?" I punched her in the face. Then she tried a different face. She tried Huegs and then Roy. Then she turned into Al. "what to do now?" I punched her so hard that it shoot shocks through my body. Then she turned back into her. "Well, your tougher than Edward I'll give you that. Then again, its not much of a complement!" she kicked me off and I was flying through the air then I felt three long sharp poles go through my arm and leg. They pinned me to a balcony in the ballroom. Then I saw Ed running at someone else. It wasn't Envy. It had to be another homunculus "Let her go!" he transmuted the ground to it turned into water. It splashed all of them off of their feet. And I fell, about a mile down, into crashing water. The last thing I heard was screams, and I woke up in a hospital bed. "What,what happened?" "Alex thank goodness your ok. How do you feel?" "Fine Ed, thanks. What happened? What about the homunculus?" "There dead. I turned the water into a chemical and it burned them. Were safe now." Ed reached down to hug me. "So how long was I out?" Roy walked in. "Long enough. State alchemists, were in need of your services. Are you ready?" I stood up. "like we have a choice." "alright, and Ed? It looks like your sister might be taller than you." "Damn it don't call me small!"


End file.
